3dLabs and Apple?

[audio_inside]

3DLabs==>Creative Tech==>No Mac

3DLabs is now owned by Singapore-based Creative Technology, and Creative's upper management have a long-running hate-affair with the Mac, confirmed by their failure to support the Mac version of their SBLive soundcard and their conviction that the Mac's "niche market" isn't large enough to make it worth the cost of development and support.

The bad blood between Creative and Apple received an extra transfusion in 2000 by a rancorous personal meeting with Steve Jobs, ostensibly to discuss possible Mac motherboard design-ins of their sound chips. Creative execs came away from the meeting with the distinct impression of having been dissed by The Steve for their cheesy commodity-quality manufacturing and shoddy software.

This deal will never happen.

 

[Puppies]

Regarding that Sound Blaster Live! for the Mac...man am I glad I didn't buy it. I was going to, but decided to hold out on the off chance they wouldn't provide OS X drivers. Still waiting on those...

EDIT: And regarding the "pro" versions of ATi/Nvidia chips, I'm sure I've read that it's usually an issue of intentionally disabling stuff that isn't used anyway on the "consumer" cards so that they can charge multiple price points. There's no magic difference between a "Quadro" or whatever Equivalent "Geforce" from the same generation.